Iqbal Singh, Managing Director of ‪‎IFM‬ along with other panellist featured in today’s ‪‎The Economic Times for investor education initiative- ‪SWATANTRA‬ powered by ‎ET Now‬ and ‎UTI‬.

The UTI Mutual Fund’sT Swatantra on ET Now, after a short break of a few weeks, moved to Chandigarh in the third week of November. In this city in norther India, a panel of experts that included Iqbal Singh of Innovative Financial Management, Deepak Kumar Bhardwaj of The Capital Investment Advisory Services, Shobhit Gupta of SNB Wealth Solutions and Shashi Shekhar Chilana, an independent financial advisor, along with the programme moderator Tanvir Gill of ET NOW discussed how mutual funds can help one to achieve one’s various financial goals in life and can help the investor turn worry free about his long term financial needs.

The discussion opened with the moderator asking Singh about the preliminary assumptions he works with while advising clients about investments and financial planning.According to Singh, the most important aspect is to look at the investor’s profile. That is where one wants to invest, how much time one has to stay invested, what are the goals and requirements of the individual etc. Based on each parameter one has to assess the individual and then look at various products one should invest in. Then one has to do the asset allocation. According to Singh, mutual fund does not mean only equity investment but it is a vehicle to invest in various assets that suits one’s needs and to achieve one’s financial goals.

The discussion then turned to investing directly into individual assets or to take the mutual fund route, Gupta of SNB Wealth Solutions said that in the norther part of India, most of the savings of individual people go into real estate and some into fixed deposits.“Most people don’t know about this investment vehicle called mutual funds,“ he said.According to Gupta, investors have this misconception that investing through mutual funds is risky. “You need to understand that it’s volatile but not risky. Here discipline is very important. Once an investor invests in mutual funds, they check the value of investments every day while they probably check the value of their real estate investment only once in five years,“ he said. Investor profiling, asset allocation and then investment discipline are the three aspects required for long term investing, he said.

On the question of diversification while investing through the mutual fund route, Bhardwaj of The Capital Investment Advisory Services said that the first point to remember while investing is to beat inflation and equities are the best asset class to invest in which can help investors to beat inflation. According to him, 30% of equity allocation is a must for every investors, even if it’s for a retired person. If a retired person has 70% in debt and 30% in equity, it has been seen that even if he withdraws 8-9% of the corpus annually (divided into equal monthly withdrawals), his corpus will not exhaust, he said. “Young people can invest up to 70%, or even 90% in equities, provided they have an investing time horizon of minimum five to seven years, and not maximum of 5-7 years,“ he said.And a person in his middle ages, can have 50-50 allocation into debt and equity, he said.

On the question of which mutual funds to invest in, Chilana said that at first investor should look at diversified funds.And then if one is an informed investor, one could go for sector funds like pharma funds, IT funds etc. Also one should be aware that the asset allocation should be based on the age of the investor. “If one is young, he could go for 70-80% into equities while if one is in his middle ages, he could settle for 50-50 allocation in debt and equity, and after 60 one could go for 70-30 allocation for debt and equity,“ Chilana said.According to Singh, to select a fund, first one should look at the consistency of return of the fund, the next is the age of the fund.

While answering a question on how an investor should behave when a fund manager is taking undue risks in debt funds, Singh said that the problem is that often fund houses chase higher AUMs, which in turn pushes the fund managers to try to give higher returns which again in turn force the fund managers to invest in lowly rated papers in expectations of higher returns.“In such situations investors need to be very vigilant and there advisors also play very crucial role,“ Singh said. On the question of how retail investors should behave in the stock market when one could see that foreign investor are the main drivers, Singh said that although the trend in the past several years was that foreign investors were the dominant investors, in 2015, the wheel has turned in favou of domestic investors who have pumped in more money into equities compared to foreign investors.

One of the investors at the discussion asked that in the current market if foreign funds are putting less money while investors investing through the SIP route are putting in more money, is it leading to a bubble like situation which could burst one day. According to Bhardwaj the reason that FIIs are pulling out money is not that they don’t like India, but because of factors external to India. For example there was problem in China and BRICS block as a whole was downgraded. But he assured that a lot of foreign money was waiting on the side lines and as and when global situation improves, they will pump in money into India. “Historically it has been seen that wheneve FIIs pulled money out of India, and whoever invested at that time made lot of money (in the next few years),“ he said.“It’s a good signal that FIIs are pulling out money, which means they are giving you the opportunity to invest,“ he said.

Company has reported marginal rise of 1.19% (Y-o-Y) & huge decline of 29.3% (Q-o-Q) in profit after tax at 12.74 cr. for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 as compared to the quarters ended September 30, 2014 and June 2015. Net Revenues grew by 15.05% on Y-o-Y basis and declined by 17.07% on Q-o-Q basis.

Company’s margins have shrunk massively this quarter because of massive operating expenditures rise of 35%. Company’s Gross Profit Margin is 52.66%. It has declined by 701 basis points on Y-o-Y basis and 1137 basis Q-o-Q basis. PAT margin has also slipped by 305 and 385 basis points compared to same quarter last year and previous quarter respectively.

So company may underperform for some period. One should accumulate in tranches as stock may slide from current levels too.

Latest Key Indicators of the stock are as follows:

Key Market Indicators (Standalone)

Latest Date

06-Nov-2015

Latest Price (Rs)

260.50

Previous Close (Rs)

268.20

1 Day Price Var%

-2.87

1 Year Price Var%

-41.32

52 Week High (Rs)

548.00

52 Week Low (Rs)

259.10

Beta

0.65

Face Value (Rs)

10.00

Industry PE

39.76

TTM Period

201506

TTM EPS(Rs)

14.85

TTM CEPS(Rs)

22.06

Price/TTM CEPS(x)

11.81

TTM PE (x)

17.54

Price/BV(x)

1.66

EV/TTM EBIDTA(x)

7.49

EV/TTM Sales(x)

4.70

Dividend Yield%

0.77

MCap/TTM Sales(x)

4.95

Latest Book Value (Rs)

156.64

Market Cap (Rs. In Crores)

1102.19

EV (Rs. In Crores)

1046.64

Latest no. of shares (In Crores)

4.23

Comparison of quarterly results with previous quarter (Q-o-Q) and the same quarter of last year (Y-o-Y) is below:

Company has posted not good results. On the consolidated basis, for the current quarter ended September 30, 2015 company has reported 41.1% decline & 14.7% rise in net profit and 46% decline & 11.5% rise (ex. Exceptional items) in Profit after tax as compared to for the same quarter in the previous year ended September 30, 2014 and for previous quarter ended June 30, 2015. Net Revenues of the company has decreased by 14.7% on Y-O-y basis and increased marginally by 4.3% on Q-o-Q basis.

Company had incurred exceptional losses of 685 cr. in previous quarter ended June 30, 2015. Exceptional expenses are not ordinary expenses and occur rarely and have no impact in future earnings. So we have filtered those effects. Latest Key Indicators of the stock are as follows:

Key Market Indicators (Consolidated)

Latest Date

06-Nov-2015

Latest Price (Rs)

803.70

Previous Close (Rs)

815.85

1 Day Price Var%

-1.49

1 Year Price Var%

-9.86

52 Week High (Rs)

1200.70

52 Week Low (Rs)

798.80

Beta

0.80

Face Value (Rs)

1.00

Industry PE

31.66

TTM Period

201509

TTM EPS(Rs)

16.20

TTM CEPS(Rs)

25.55

Price/TTM CEPS(x)

31.46

TTM PE (x)

49.61

Price/BV(x)

7.36

EV/TTM EBIDTA(x)

26.04

EV/TTM Sales(x)

8.06

Dividend Yield%

0.37

MCap/TTM Sales(x)

8.14

Latest Book Value (Rs)

109.25

Market Cap (Rs. In Crores)

193413.30

EV (Rs. In Crores)

191411.37

Latest no. of shares (In Crores)

240.65

Comparison of quarterly results with previous quarter (Q-o-Q) and the same quarter of last year (Y-o-Y) is below:

Company has posted better returns than what was expected. On the consolidated basis, the company has reported 104.4 % & 8% rise in net profit and 157.6% & 4.4% rise in Profit after tax for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 as compared to for the same quarter in the previous year (Q2 FY15) and for the last quarter (Q1 FY16). Net Revenues (consolidated) of the company has increased by 14.1% and marginally decreased by 2.3% for quarter under review as compared to the quarter ended September, 2014 and June, 2015 respectively. These extraordinary results were also due to drastic drop in exceptional expenses.

Exceptional expenses are not ordinary expenses and occur rarely and have no impact in future earnings. So we have filtered those effects. Excluding exceptional expenses, Net profit and Profit after tax grew by 63.5% on Y-o-Y basis, which are much better than both industry and its own past performance.

Latest Key Indicators of the stock are as follows:

Key Market Indicators (Consolidated)

Latest Date

05-Nov-2015

Latest Price (Rs)

242.50

Previous Close (Rs)

243.30

1 Day Price Var%

-0.33

1 Year Price Var%

-14.65

52 Week High (Rs)

395.85

52 Week Low (Rs)

217.30

Beta

1.14

Face Value (Rs)

1.00

Industry PE

23.94

TTM Period

201506

TTM EPS(Rs)

7.29

TTM CEPS(Rs)

17.70

Price/TTM CEPS(x)

13.70

TTM PE (x)

33.26

Price/BV(x)

8.61

EV/TTM EBIDTA(x)

10.55

EV/TTM Sales(x)

1.00

Dividend Yield%

0.82

MCap/TTM Sales(x)

0.91

Latest Book Value (Rs)

28.16

Market Cap (Rs. In Crores)

32078.57

EV (Rs. In Crores)

35317.27

Latest no. of shares (In Crores)

132.28

Comparison of quarterly results with previous quarter (Q-o-Q) and the same quarter of last year (Y-o-Y) is below:

On the consolidated basis, Amara Raja Batteries Ltd. has reported 22.20% rise in its net profit after taxes on Y-o-Y basis and minute rise of 0.39% in net profit on Q-o-Q basis. Total income of the company has increased by 9.25% & 1.16% at Rs 1158.29 crore for quarter under review as compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2014 and quarter ended June 2015.

After years, reported top line growth remained below two digit numbers. Commenting on the Q2 performance, Mr. S V Raghavendra, Chief Financial Officer, said, “During the quarter, prices of major raw materials have been lower but the gains were partly offset by sharp depreciation of rupee against dollar. The reduced prices were passed on to the customers as per the contractual obligations resulting in marginal reduction in top line. However, the realization per unit for certain products and services have been better on account of cost improvements and better value proposition to various customers. The operating cash flow generation remained strong driven by improved profitability. The Company continues to have healthy liquidity position. The major projects of two wheeler expansion, inverter tubular batteries unit, LVRLA expansion are progressing quite well and are on track.”

Latest Key Indicators of the stock are as follows:

Key Market Indicators

Latest Date

30-Oct-2015

Latest Price (Rs)

903.15

Previous Close (Rs)

903.20

1 Day Price Var%

-0.01

1 Year Price Var%

39.16

52 Week High (Rs)

1132.00

52 Week Low (Rs)

640.10

Beta

0.84

Face Value (Rs)

1.00

Industry PE

28.08

TTM Period

201509

TTM EPS(Rs)

26.30

TTM CEPS(Rs)

34.12

Price/TTM CEPS(x)

26.47

TTM PE (x)

34.34

Price/BV(x)

7.93

EV/TTM EBIDTA(x)

19.03

EV/TTM Sales(x)

3.46

Dividend Yield%

0.40

MCap/TTM Sales(x)

3.49

Latest Book Value (Rs)

113.82

Market Cap (Rs. In Crores)

15426.93

EV (Rs. In Crores)

15280.71

Latest no. of shares (In Crores)

17.08

Comparison of quarterly results with previous quarter (Q-o-Q) and the same quarter of last year (Y-o-Y) is below:

Axis Bank Ltd. has reported good financial results in the current quarter. On the consolidated basis, company has reported 18.93% rise and 3.17% decline in net profit compared to same quarter last year & previous quarter respectively.

Gross Interest income reported at Rs. 9,960 Cr. Grew by 15.58% and 0.24% for the quarter under review as compared to the quarter ended September, 2014 and June, 2015 respectively. Net interest income at Rs. 4,062 Cr. grew by 15.24% & 0.14% on Y-o-Y basis & Q-o-Q basis and net interest margin stood at 3.85%. Other income (majorly fee income) is 17% of total income. Core operating income (excluding earnings on sale of investments) increased by 19.67% at Rs. 3460 Cr.

Asset quality of the bank deteriorated marginally. The bank’s Gross NPA and Net NPA for the July-September quarter of the current fiscal increased to 1.38% and 0.48% as compared to 1.34% and 1.34% in the same quarter of the previous year respectively.

Proportion of CASA as on 30-Sep-2015 stood at 44%. Return on assets was 1.64%.

Latest Key Indicators of the stock are as follows:

Key Market Indicators (Consolidated)

Latest Date

29-Oct-2015

Latest Price (Rs)

469.40

Previous Close (Rs)

482.95

1 Day Price Var%

-2.81

1 Year Price Var%

10.25

52 Week High (Rs)

655.35

52 Week Low (Rs)

422.15

Beta

1.45

Face Value (Rs)

2.00

Industry PE

18.63

TTM Period

201503

TTM EPS(Rs)

31.32

TTM CEPS(Rs)

33.09

Price/TTM CEPS(x)

14.19

TTM PE (x)

14.99

Price/BV(x)

2.48

EV/TTM EBIDTA(x)

12.94

EV/TTM Sales(x)

4.93

Dividend Yield%

0.98

MCap/TTM Sales(x)

3.12

Latest Book Value (Rs)

189.02

Market Cap (Rs. In Crores)

111626.47

EV (Rs. In Crores)

176201.13

Latest no. of shares (In Crores)

237.81

Comparison of quarterly results with previous quarter (Q-o-Q) and the same quarter of last year (Y-o-Y) is below:

The bank has posted a rise of 20.49% & 6.44% in its net profit at Rs 2869.45 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 as compared to the same quarter in the previous year & last quarter resp. Total income has increased by 24.68% at Rs 17324.28 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 13894.73 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2014. Net income saw a rise of 24.69% and other income saw a rise of 24.65% on Y-o-Y basis.

Asset quality of the bank has also improved. The bank’s gross NPA for the July-September quarter of the current fiscal improved to 0.91%, as compared to 1.02% in the same quarter of the previous year. Besides, bank’s Net NPA stood at 0.25% in Q2FY16.

CASA proportion as on 30-Sep-2015 stands at 40%.

Latest Key Indicators of the stock are as follows:

Key Market Indicators (Standalone)

Latest Date

20-Oct-2015

Latest Price (Rs)

1095.15

Previous Close (Rs)

1096.20

1 Day Price Var%

-0.10

1 Year Price Var%

22.39

52 Week High (Rs)

1127.90

52 Week Low (Rs)

887.70

Beta

0.88

Face Value (Rs)

2.00

Industry PE

20.21

TTM Period

201506

TTM EPS(Rs)

42.41

TTM CEPS(Rs)

42.41

Price/TTM CEPS(x)

25.83

TTM PE (x)

25.83

Price/BV(x)

4.24

EV/TTM EBIDTA(x)

15.94

EV/TTM Sales(x)

5.72

Dividend Yield%

0.73

MCap/TTM Sales(x)

5.38

Latest Book Value (Rs)

257.99

Market Cap (Rs. In Crores)

275779.93

EV (Rs. In Crores)

293483.03

Latest no. of shares (In Crores)

251.82

Comparison of quarterly results with previous quarter (Q-o-Q) and the same quarter of last year (Y-o-Y) is below:

Company has declared results as per expectations. On the consolidated basis, HCL Tech. has reported decline in net profit by 2.92% and rise of 2.21% on sequential basis. Net Revenues (consolidated) of the company has increased by 15.59% and 3.27% at Rs 15,635 crore for quarter under review as compared to the quarter ended September, 2014 and June, 2015 respectively.

Latest Key Indicators of the stock are as follows:

Key Market Indicators (Consolidated)

Latest Date

19-Oct-2015

Latest Price (Rs)

857.15

Previous Close (Rs)

841.35

1 Day Price Var%

1.88

1 Year Price Var%

14.52

52 Week High (Rs)

1058.20

52 Week Low (Rs)

725.18

Beta

0.61

Face Value (Rs)

2.00

Industry PE

19.52

TTM Period

201509

TTM EPS(Rs)

51.23

TTM CEPS(Rs)

54.66

Price/TTM CEPS(x)

15.68

TTM PE (x)

16.73

Price/BV(x)

4.63

EV/TTM EBIDTA(x)

11.78

EV/TTM Sales(x)

2.93

Dividend Yield%

0.58

MCap/TTM Sales(x)

3.14

Latest Book Value (Rs)

185.22

Market Cap (Rs. In Crores)

120542.78

EV (Rs. In Crores)

112753.53

Latest no. of shares (In Crores)

140.63

Comparison of quarterly results with previous quarter (Q-o-Q) and the same quarter of last year (Y-o-Y) is below:

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) has reported results for second quarter ended September 30, 2015. On the consolidated basis, the company has reported 8.72% & 1.5% rise in its net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 (Q2, FY16) as compared to the same quarter in the previous year ended September 30, 2014 (Q2, FY15) and previous quarter ended June 30, 2015 (Q1, FY16) respectively. Net Revenues (consolidated) of the company has increased by 23.89% Year-on-Year basis and 3.36% Quarter-on-Quarter basis to Rs 1,384.9 crore for quarter under review.

A fair growth of 14.06% in the revenue at Rs. 27165 Cr. was reported in the September 2015 quarter as compared to Rs. 23816 Cr. during year-ago period on consolidated basis. A humble growth in net profit of 16.02% reported in the quarter ended September 2015 to Rs. 6084 Cr. from Rs. 5244 Cr. Company has also witnessed small increase in profit margins. On sequential basis, growth in revenues is at 5.83% and net profit at 7.05%.

Latest Key Indicators of the stock are as follows:

Key Market Indicators (Consolidated)

Latest Date

14-Oct-2015

Latest Price (Rs)

2483.40

Previous Close (Rs)

2597.40

1 Day Price Var%

-4.39

1 Year Price Var%

-8.01

52 Week High (Rs)

2810.00

52 Week Low (Rs)

2348.25

Beta

0.53

Face Value (Rs)

1.00

Industry PE

19.34

TTM Period

201509

TTM EPS(Rs)

106.44

TTM CEPS(Rs)

117.03

Price/TTM CEPS(x)

21.22

TTM PE (x)

23.33

Price/BV(x)

8.05

EV/TTM EBIDTA(x)

15.82

EV/TTM Sales(x)

4.60

Dividend Yield%

3.18

MCap/TTM Sales(x)

4.78

Latest Book Value (Rs)

308.48

Market Cap (Rs. In Crores)

485489.31

EV (Rs. In Crores)

467290.97

Latest no. of shares (In Crores)

195.49

Shareholding Pattern as on 30 Sep, 2015:

Share Holding Pattern

Promoter No of shares (In Crores)

144.68

Promoter %

73.86

FII No of Shares (In Crores)

24.86

FII %

12.69

Total No of Shares (In Crores)

195.87

Free Float %

26.14

Comparison of quarterly results with previous quarter (Q-o-Q) and the same quarter of last year (Y-o-Y) is below: